Trying to import data from Btrieve into SQL Server

Hi
I am have been give 156 btr and 4 ddf files. I have been asked to extract the data and export this into either MS Access or SQL Server. Unfortunately, I have no experience of Btrieve and have no access to the Btrieve server / Application used to extract these files. I do have the following information: btrieve version 6.15.445 on Netware.

I have so far, downloaded a trial version of the Pervasive software version 10.30.017.000 and converted the btr files to 9.5. I have also used the Scalable DDF utility to upgrade the DFF files from version 3 to version 4 as requested by the Pervasive application. I have then created a new database and pointed it to where the files are stored. Unfortunately, no tables are shown in the database.the DDF files show up though. I have tried updating the file.ddf file but keep getting the following error message: [LNA][Pervasive][ODBC Engine Interface][Data Record Manager]The owner name is invalid(Btrieve Error 51)

If X$File/X$Field/X$Index show up, but nothing else does, then you may have been provided with EMPTY DDF's. Start the Pervasive Maintenance Utility and go to Options/Create Stat Report and do a STAT on the FILE.DDF. If you see only 3 or 4 records there, then your DDF's are indeed empty and useless to you. (You can also do this from a command prompt with the command "BUTIL -STAT FILE.DDF" and looking at the Number of Records line.)

If your DDF's are empty, then go back to the user or developer and request correct DDF's. With them, this task is trivial -- and you already have taken all of the steps needed. Without them, this task is VERY non-trivial.

Now, one more thing -- if you created a new database and did NOT already have the right DDF's in the folder, then the database engine would have created new ones for you -- probably ones that had 8-10 tables defined in it -- all X$.... tables. You may then be able to delete this "new" set of DDF's and copy your original DDF's into the correct location. It all depends on exactly how you created the database wand what was where. However, the STAT report on the FILE.DDF will give you a big clue -- if it shows less than 10 records, then the DDF's are indeed empty.

Hi and Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, I have no access to the developer and the users are not IT literate (they are lawyers). Is there a way of importing these files into either access or sql? The STAT report has the following:

These are not the older DDF's, but rather the brand new ones that the database engine created. Did you say that you had old ones (the set with the 4 files)? Try a BUTIL -STAT on that FILE.DDF and let me know how many records are in THAT copy.

Here's the exact paper which explains in more detail exactly what you are trying to do and why it is hard:http://www.goldstarsoftware.com/papers/AccessingBtrieveDataFromODBC.pdf
As you see in the paper, without DDF's, there is no way to access the data relationally, and thus no way to get to it from Access, either. You'll either need to create the DDF's yourself or have someone do it for you. Without detailed data structure documentation or source code, this is (again) a non-trivial exercise.

Veeam is happy to provide a free NFR license (1 year, 2 sockets) to all certified IT Pros. The license allows for the non-production use of Veeam Availability Suite v9.5 in your home lab, without any feature limitations. It works for both VMware and Hyper-V environments

Wonderful. Delete all of the DDF files that the system created in the directory, and then copy THOSE DDF's into the folder. Then, open it with the PCC, and you should see all of your tables there.

You can either use the PCC to export the data (right-click on the table and select Export Data), or you can use any ODBC-compliant tool to directly access the new database and read the data directly. SSIS/DTS will do the job nicely if you are bringing the data into SQL Server.

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